Tubing in earth's magnetosphere.Tubing in Earth's magnetosphere magnetosphere: see Van Allen radiation belts. magnetosphere Region around a planet (such as Earth) or a natural satellite that possesses a magnetic field (see Duane H. Pontius Jr. and Richard A. Wolf of Rice University in Houston urge more researchers to examine existing spacecraft data for evidence of tubes in the magnetosphere of Earth. Such tubes would be created by the movement of "bubbles" containing a reduced number of high-energy (kilovolt kilovolt (kil´  vōlt),n the unit of electrical potential equal to 1000 volts. ) particles and formed by the bunching-together of lines in the tail of the field, the authors write in the January GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS Geophysical Research Letters is a publication of the American Geophysical Union. GRL is the organization's only letters journal. Since its introduction in 1974, GRL has published only short research letters, typically 3-5 pages long, which focus on a specific discipline or . The bubbles, the authors hypothesize hy·poth·e·size v. hy·poth·e·sized, hy·poth·e·siz·ing, hy·poth·e·siz·es v.tr. To assert as a hypothesis. v.intr. To form a hypothesis. , would be moving "uptail," or toward the Earth, along the field lines at speeds of about 1,000 kilometers per second, creating short-lived regions that are essentially tubes. Several satellites have taken measurements down the geotail, but the idea is "to encourage people who watch this data to look for these things," the researchers write. |
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